Dietary fibers incorporated in kiwifruit juice and their applications as novel ingredients: effects on sensorial properties

CASSANI, LUCÍA; TOMADONI, BÁRBARA; MOREIRA, MARÍA DEL ROSARIO

Concordia

Congreso; International Conference on Food Innovation; 2014

Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos y Universidad Politécnica de Valencia

The interest in developing functional food is rising, driven largely by the market potential for foods and beverages that can improve the health and well-being of consumers. Novel functional ingredients (e.g. prebiotics), used to fortify functional foods, are less familiar to consumers. As a result, little is known about the consumer acceptability of these unique ingredients. The objectives of the present study were: (a) to fortify kiwifruit juice with oligofructose and orange fiber in order to obtain a functional beverage (b) to evaluate the impact of adding prebiotic fibers on the sensory quality of the product. Fiber concentrations applied were: 7.5, 15 and 22 g/L (to oligofructose O1, O2 and O3 respectively and to orange fiber OF1, OF2 and OF3 respectively). The range of concentrations used was chosen according to the Argentinean Alimentary Code. It states that a food to be considered as functional beverage must contain at least 1.5 g/100 % w/v of prebiotic fibers. Six kiwifruit juices samples were prepared based on the concentrations mentioned before and one more was used as a control sample in which no fiber was added. The samples were stored under refrigeration (5 °C) for 6 days. At days 0, 2 and 6 a sensory evaluation was carried out by a hedonic scale consisting of 5 points, where 5 means very good and 1 poor. Ten trained panelists evaluated the beverage for color, flavor, consistency and sweet and acid taste. During all storage period, for oligofructose samples, the sweet taste scores obtained in every concentration were higher than the control sample. This is due to the oligofructose sweetness is 35 % higher than sucrose. Therefore, O3 was the sweetest. The rest of attributes scores were better compared to the control sample in every concentration. As regards to orange fiber samples, significant differences were detected in every attribute analyzed. The color of the juice was changed. It could be attributed to that orange fiber is brown colored, and as a result of this, the original color of the kiwifruit juice turns to be modified. The taste was strange and a little bitter; as a consequence, OF3 was the least accepted by panelists. In conclusion, it was possible to obtain a functional beverage by prebiotic fiber addition. In the case of oligofructose, any of the three applied concentrations can be added to the juice. This addition improves the sweet taste of the juice and it maintains the original color of the beverage, during refrigerated storage. In the case of orange fiber samples, the only accepted concentration was OF1.